Business

Lorillard reported a 16.3% increase in fourth-quarter net income to $327 million. The Greensboro-based cigarette manufacturer also said sales increased 1.4% to $1.77 billion. Net income for the full year was $1.19 billion, up 0.6% from the previous year.

North Carolina has nearly 23,000 clean-energy jobs – 5,000 more than it had a year ago – according to a report issued by the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association. The Raleigh-based trade group said most of the jobs were in building efficiency, followed by solar energy and biomass energy.

Following former Mayor Patrick Cannon's arrest on corruption charges, Charlotte City Council members have agreed to tighten the city's ethics policy but there has been little mention of adding transparency requirements for lobbyists. Other large cities, and some smaller ones, require lobbyists to register and report interactions with public officials.

The nonprofit corporation that plans to redevelop R.J. Reynolds Tobacco's Whitaker Park manufacturing campus has asked Forsyth County and the city of Winston-Salem for $8 million for infrastructure improvements on the 120-acre property. The group is likely to seek additional funding from other sources, including the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Wilmington-based Eshelman Ventures, the latest project of PPD founder Fred Eshelman, announced two investments in Research Triangle Park pharmaceutical companies last week. The investment company was part of a $3.2 million round of financing for Dignify Therapeutics and also co-led a $33 million financing package for G1 Therapeutics.

A federal judge gave the receiver in the ZeekRewards.com case permission to file a class-action lawsuit against about 9,400 "net winners" who gained at least $1,000 in the Lexington-based Ponzi scheme. Kenneth Bell said he expects to recover as much as $283 million from the net winners. Bell has already recovered more than $342 million and has paid out $147 million to victims.

Raleigh's planning commission approved a proposal that would allow for 58,000 square feet of retail shops anchored by a Publix grocery store in North Raleigh. Raleigh City Council must now decide on the controversial rezoning, which neighbors say will increase traffic and could put other nearby food stores out of business.

Duke Energy wants South Carolina regulators to approve a plan that will allow it to expand its solar offerings in the state. The plan would allow rebates of up to $5,000 for customers who install rooftop solar arrays and would allow the Charlotte-based utility to add up to 110 megawatts of solar energy by 2021.Related: Duke Energy takes majority stake in solar firm

North Carolina exported a record $31 billion in goods in 2014, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. That's a 7% increase from 2013. The state's most significant exports were chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, computer and electrical products and textiles.

The N.C. Department of Transportation told Charlotte officials the state can open an unused lane of I-485 as a carpool lane if a regional transportation planning group requests it. The unused lane on Charlotte's outer belt is being reserved to create a toll lane, which won't open until 2019 or 2020.